Becoming More
by 00Quinn00
Summary: Kico slash fic,sorta based off of the events going on in my life right now, about 2 trying to become more than friends, afraid of the consequences and each others' feelings. R&R!
1. Chapter 1: Emptiness

A/N: I know that I'm not finished with my recent story, "Even Perfect", But I felt I had to write this. This is a Kico slash fic, but it's not entirely fiction. I guess you could say this fiction is a portion in my life that I am dealing with right now. Kowalski would be me, and Rico would be...well, just read and find out:) WARNING: The story does contain Tobacco use and perhaps marijuana, if I can somehow fit it into the story. I'm planning to make this a really long story, as one's life is difficult to contain in just few paragraphs, and I'm finding it quite difficult to merge Kowalski's life with mine, same goes for Rico. But anyways, I hope you enjoy and Review as always!:)

Disclaimer: I DO NOT own anything related to Penguins of Madagascar.

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><p>Kowalski fidgeted with the lit cigarette in his hand, unable to keep his focus on the white paper as it moved from side to side, the bright orange cherry dancing in the blackness of night. He wasn't able to focus on much lately, mainly due to the feelings he'd been having. Sure, he was the team's strategist, and although he didn't want to brag, he was nothing short of a genius, but in the past few days, he had suddenly began to feel so ...empty.<p>

He wasn't sure how to deal with it, as he'd never felt something like this. Yet, as the days dragged on, the emptiness slowly burned inside him, much like the cigarette he held in his flipper, and he began to feel that this new sadness had been inside him all along, he just never noticed it until now. His first reaction, of course, was to try to forget about it. But no matter how long he slaved in his lab, relieving empty hole inside him was still there, growing more each day.

As Kowalski sat at the top of the habitat, putting his beak over the filter of the cigarette and inhaling the smoke, he couldn't help but wonder, why? It had seemed everything was going fine with his life. Experiments and missions going through as usual and such. He couldn't find an answer, no matter how hard he tried. The distraught penguin looked up to the night sky, exhaling as he tried to remember what exactly set him off. He began to remember more and more of the day he started to feel it, and only one caught his mind.

_Kowalski was in his lab, as usual, working on one of many projects he had planned to build and experiment on for his day off. Right now, he was working on a formula that would enhance ones abilities to near super-human potential, without the usual side effects of something like steroids. He was nearly done creating the last ingredients for the concoction, excited that he just hit a scientific milestone,when he noticed the sound of his lab door closing, loudly. Startled by the noise, he turned and met Rico's gaze, his usual idiotic smile on his face._

"_Hi, 'Walski!" He exclaimed cheerily as he waddled over to the strategist, bumping him in the shoulder as he passed. Kowalski silently growled at the penguin's action as he was trying to get the last ingredient into the liquid. He had to make sure he was extremely careful, for if he added too much or too little of the liquid, the experiment could end in a lethal explosion._

"_Hello, Rico." He grumbled, slightly annoyed that he would barge in like that without warning._

"_Work?" He squawked, cocking his head to the right quizzically. Kowalski let out a sigh as he explained,_

"_Yes, Rico. I'm working on a very important experiment right now, and I'd like to be getting back to it.." He tried to edge on the hint that he would like to be alone, but the manic penguin showed no signs of understanding. A few moments of silence passed before Rico asked,_

"_Help?"_

_Kowalski looked up at Rico, scoffing at the latest remark._

"_Sorry, Rico, but this is a very gentle procedure, It would be too risky for someone with your... violent tendencies to help me, and it requires all of my concentration to-" Rico cut him off, obviously angry at his latest remark._

"_Me gentle! See?" He said, trying to grab the ingredient in Kowalski's hand, but fell short as the strategist quickly shot his flipper back, beginning to grow angry himself._

"_Rico! This is a very fragile-" He was cut off again as Rico moved his flippers forward, still making an effort to grab the liquid. Kowalski was quick to react, and jumped from his desk, now boiling with anger. Rico wouldn't quit, he just continued to attempt to snatch whatever Kowalski had in his hands and prove him wrong._

_The light tugs and pushes slowly turned more violent, now becoming hard shoves and punches._

"_Rico!" Kowalski yelled, nearly beaming red with anger as Rico decked him in the side of his flipper._

"_I told you, you can't possibly help me with this in any way! Just leave!" The last statement seemed to hit Rico. Hard. Kowalski, now realizing the hurtful words he said, had tried to apologize._

"_..Rico, I didn't-" But, once again, he was cut off by the maniacal penguin's actions. His sadness turned to blind fury as he punched Kowalski near the beak, grabbing the dark vial as the intelligent penguin fell to the ground with a thud. Rico was startled that he used so much force, but didn't show a sliver of regret as he held the potentially dangerous liquid in his hand triumphantly._

_As Kowalski rose up, he had a look of extreme fear on his face, realizing the danger for his project as Rico shot out a devious smile._

"_Rico..please hand me the vial. You don't know how dangerous it is." His face lit up a little as the manic penguin appeared to ponder his decisions. But even though it seemed he was leaning towards giving it back, Rico poured all of the liquid into the beaker on the desk._

"_Whoops." He squawked evilly._

_Kowalski shrieked in horror as he saw the liquid run down the beaker to his experiment._

"_Rico!" He screamed. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" Rico just stood there, chuckling as he thought he had won the seemingly pointless argument. But as he was about to mutter a response, he noticed the liquid in the beaker slowly darkened, and without any more warning, it exploded, shattering the beaker and setting the items around it ablaze in small fires._

_Kowalski shot back, shielding himself from the flying glass with his flippers. Many shards passed him by, but a couple stabbed through the skin of his left flipper, making the strategist shout out in pain. Rico ducked down, covering himself from the blast, but the smoke caught his lungs and he began to cough violently. Once Kowalski gathered himself, he started to pull the shards out from his flipper carefully, wincing in pain as he saw the blood covered glass leave his body. But that was the least of his worries. As the smoke partially cleared, he noticed his flaming desk, with every blueprint and schematic of his present and future projects burning with it._

"_My work!" He screamed, glad the lab was nearly soundproof. He shot his gaze up at Rico, who started to lift himself from under the desk. He had it with Rico. He grew tired of his usual pranks or mischievous attitude, but this took it too far. Kowalski exploded with anger as he lunged towards the surprised penguin, ambushing him with an array of punches. After realizing what was happening, the now fuming Rico grabbed Kowalski's cut and bleeding flipper, increasing his pressure on the wound. Kowalski yelped out, but continued to hit Rico with his free flipper._

_Rico kicked him off and soon the two were on the floor staring each other down. Kowalski, who was holding his flipper in pain, began to shout._

"_You've ruined my work! Do you know how long it will take me to get all of this back?" The crazed penguin looked at the desk, seeing many scattered papers and reports burn to ash on the scorched desk. He suddenly felt terrible. He reached his flipper out carefully, the word "sorry" quietly escaping his beak. But Kowalski was through. He slapped the flipper away._

"_No! There's nothing you can do to fix this! Just-Just get the hell out of here!" Rico's reaction startled Kowalski. It wasn't anger or his usual devious grin, which he usually showed as he messed with Kowalski. No, it was complete sadness. The strategist's gaze never ended as Rico slouched down and slowly left the room, Kowalski slamming the door angrily behind him._

Kowalski's memories flashed away as he noticed the helicopter pass him by above him, leaving a trail of light smoke in the midnight blue sky. Kowalski didn't know why he freaked out on Rico. He actually had a lot of copies of most of the projects on the desk, but it was the fact that Rico didn't listen to him that really set him off. Rico was supposed to be his best friend. He should've listened to Kowalski and left, but he just had to push his buttons. He scoffed angrily as he hit the cigarette again, feeling the smoke enter and exit his lungs. That was another thing that angered Kowalski. Earlier in his life, almost right when he met Rico, the manic penguin pressured him to smoke. He said it would calm him down, and for the most part, now it did. But he wasn't sure how long he could sneak out in the middle of the night, scavenging for cigarettes and even resorting to stealing a couple packs from a close by convenient store.

He hated the addiction, and scoffed again, now becoming angrier at himself for even letting the stupid penguin talk him into it. He looked into the water that surrounded the habitat, remembering the rest of the events that night.

_Kowalski had managed to clean the horrific mess in his lab within an hour, and was now slouching at his desk, his head in his flippers. What had just happened? How could they let that happen to each other? Kowalski began to pace, sadly questioning his friendship with Rico._

_Sure, Rico had been there for him, helping him in a tight situation in missions and assisting him with his experiments. But something came into his mind that made the penguin stop. All the times Rico was with Kowalski and acting nice, Skipper was usually in the general area. But when he left, it did seem like Rico would change. He would become more aggressive, trying to start a play fight or distracting Kowalski during his work. Most of the time, it would seem like the manic penguin would try his best just to tick off Kowalski, and it usually worked._

_The intellectual slowly fell to the ground, realizing what Kowalski meant to Rico. He was nothing more than someone to entertain him. A fool who would fall for all of his pranks and get provoked enough to fight him, though always losing. Kowalski could feel tears forming as he remembered all the times Rico made him feel worthless without even knowing it. He didn't know what hurt more, the fact that the smartest animal in the zoo couldn't understand what Rico was really doing to him, or the fact that Rico would even do that. He silently wept to himself as he took the realizations in._

_Rico was supposed to be his best friend, he was supposed to be there for him through thick and thin, no matter what. But now, it seemed there was no chance of even a remote friendship between the two, after what happened..._

And that's when he felt it. The increasing emptiness inside of him, all from knowing his best friend wasn't his friend at all anymore. He wasn't even sure if Rico would consider them best friends before the incident happened. Kowalski was nothing to him, and he felt so terribly empty inside. Skipper, of course, was Kowalski's long time friend, longer than Rico and him knew each other, but for some reason, not even that cheered him up. Skipper was an amazing friend, and he wouldn't trade him for anyone, but there was something about Rico. He wasn't supposed to make him feel worthless, and yet here he was, as useless feeling as ever as the smoke filled his lungs and the hole inside him. But what was it about Rico that made Kowalski feel so good when he was near, and so horrible now after what happened? The scientist couldn't come up with any logical solution, but stopped as he heard something in the distance.

It almost sounded like a lighter being ignited, but that was impossible. No other animal in the zoo had a lighter besides him. He turned around and noticed the fishbowl entrance open a crack, and a quick flash of light on the other side of the habitat. Kowalski slowly waddled over the the edge, wondering who would be up this late, he nearly stumbled back as he saw the figure in front of him.

Rico.

He had been trying to light a cigarette of his own, the lighter he had clearly out of fluid. Kowalski began to feel warm inside, but shook it away as he slanted his brow in anger, still devastated after what happened. He wanted to hit him right there, just to show him how he really felt at the moment. But something stopped him, he didn't know what, but it stopped him dead in his tracks. He watched in horror as his beak moved, slowly forming words.

"N..Need a light?"

Kowalski cursed at himself as Rico turned around, just as surprised as he was and staring into the eyes of the strategist. _Why did I say that? _ Kowalski thought to himself as he shifted uncomfortably. The truth was, he wasn't sure he was ready to face Rico yet. The two hadn't spoken a word to one another since the incident, which Kowalski remembered was 3 nights ago. He didn't know how to act anymore. Part of him felt like punching him as hard as he could. Part of him felt like breaking down and crying, asking why Rico acted this way toward his so-called "best friend" for so long.

"Ya.." Rico grumbled softly as he scooted over, giving room for Kowalski to sit next to him, but he remained standing as he tossed Rico the blue lighter. The two stayed there, surrounded by the awkward silence of the night, when Rico got up and face Kowalski. He tried to put his flipper on his shoulder, casting a saddened glance, but Kowalski shot back, a look of anger and betrayal on his face.

"Oh, so now you act like a true friend?" He asked, the bitterness of his voice showing completely. The words hit Rico like a brick to the head, not expecting such a crude remark. His expression remained the same, though. A look of regret, sadness, but most of all, hope. Hope that all of this could just disappear and everything would return back to normal. A feeling Kowalski was all too familiar with in the past nights.

"'Walski..." He whispered, his beak lowering to a frown. Kowalski shot right back,

"Don't 'Walski' me, you-you...jerk! I see all the times you ridicule me, just so you can get a cheap laugh! And whenever Skipper comes into the room, you act like we're the best of friends. You're.. You're a terrible person!"

Rico and Kowalski both stopped, beaks open wide, at what the strategist had said. Rico's eyes became blurry, but he forced away the few tears that formed. Did he really act that way towards Kowalski? He never meant to ridicule him, he thought it was all just games. But he knew he was clearly wrong when he saw the intellectual begin to sob.

"I thought...I thought we were best friends, Rico.. How could you do this to me? How could this happen to us?" Rico wished he could answer that question.

Kowalski didn't know what he was saying, he just had all these strange and horrible feelings inside of him and he needed to let them escape, but he'd never imagine he'd do it in front of Rico. The words rang through Rico like some ricocheting bullet, each time he heard it come past and bounce off his mind, the more it hurt. _"How could you do this to me?"_

Rico couldn't contain himself anymore. He waddled towards the crying Kowalski, now letting his own tears form as he hugged him as hard as he could, mumbling between sobs,

"Terrible. Friend. So Sorry, 'Walski.." Kowalski stopped crying at what Rico said, and looked down at him.

"W-what?"

Rico now buried his face in Kowalski's chest, the tears running down more than ever.

"So Sorry. Do anything. So be friends. Again. For...Forever." The strategist nearly melted at the last few words, though he couldn't tell why. He moved his flippers to Rico's back, gently rubbing it as the demolitions expert loudly sobbed into him.

He never imagined him actually confronting Rico this way, but he definitely had not seen the tables turn around on him. Rico was the one who was crying, and Kowalski was the one that felt terrible. He wondered if Rico somehow managed to trick him, so he could avoid confrontation. But the loud sobs that made Kowalski feel worse with guilt every second sounded much too real. And the way he held Kowalski, the emotion he had in such a simple gesture, was enough to prove to him he wasn't lying at all. The two slowly pulled away, Kowalski now rubbing his tears from his face.

"Rico, I shouldn't have acted in such a horrible manner, I over-reacted, I'm...I'm sorry." He whispered, moving his flippers to his shoulders. Rico looked up, breathing deep as he "Spoke",

"Me, horrible person. Didn't know, so sorry.." He felt tears arise again and covered his face with his flippers. Kowalski felt as horrible as ever. He just wanted to hold Rico in his arms and tell him everything was going to be okay, change everything and make it better.

And, somehow, he managed to do just that.

"Rico," He said, still in a low and soft voice. "Let's just forget everything that happened between us, Okay?. Start anew, you know? I'd love nothing more than to be your fre...best friend.." Kowalski blushed a little at his last statement. He half expected Rico to make a gagging noise at such a mushy response, but instead, he embraced Kowalski once more. After he let go, Rico looked up, a sudden smile on his face as he wiped the tears away.

"F..Forever?" He asked. Kowalski chuckled lightly, but soon noticed the look of pure seriousness and hope in Rico's blue-green eyes. _He_ hugged Rico this time, now moving his face closer than ever to his.

"Forever.." He whispered into his ears as they held each other in the night.

Kowalski never felt the emptiness ever again...

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><p>Please let me know what you think! Sorry if this was really long, but it's the entire prologue and I felt like keeping it as only 1 chapter. But now the boring stuff is through and we can get to the cute and cuddly! Yay! :D (Also please don't flame if you think the characters are OOC, because that just means you didn't read my note, as I am trying to put part of mine and anothers' life in theirs, without taking too much out.)<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Malfunction

Kowalski awoke in his bunk, surprised he had actually gotten a good night's rest for the first time in a week, due to the re-blueprinting and re-analysis for a few of his projects. Kowalski had been angry before at Rico for destroying them, but after that one night on the habitat, where they both had their share of unexpected feelings pouring out, things changed for the better. Kowalski was happy, he and Rico had really been the best of friends ever since. Rico had even offered to help Kowalski fix his projects, and with some persuasion that he would be as careful as he could possibly be, Rico managed to actually help, if not improve the inventions.

Kowalski smiled softly to himself as he saw the shorter penguin stumble out of his own bunk and head towards the T.V. He himself had now shuffled out and groggily walked to the table, hoping he wouldn't have to do much training today. He looked around him, but found no one but he and Rico in the lair. Kowalski wondered where they where, but quickly forgot about it. Skipper and Private had been spending a lot of time together lately, though he couldn't understand why...

"'Walski?" Rico asked as he shuffled over in his seat, a sudden look of excitement on his face, which wasn't unusual for him, as he always had a look on his face that Kowalski could never describe.

"Yes, Rico?" The strategist replied as he looked up from the newspaper he had been skimming through. Rico then got up from his content spot on the couch and moved towards Kowalski, grabbing him by the flipper as he neared him. Kowalski couldn't help but stare at him, feeling his face grow hot at the sudden interaction.

"Work?" He said, an anxious smile on his face as he pointed to the lab. Kowalski wondered if Rico noticed his red face as they waddled towards the door. He was wondering why he blushed in the first place, looking away nervously as Rico cast him a smile. He was also wondering why Rico still had his flipper around him. Rico noticed too, and loosened his grip when they entered the lab.

"Alright Rico," He started, sifting through his experiments until he found what he was looking for.

"We're going to work on this:" He said triumphantly, showing what looked to be a simple remote control. Rico just let out a confused grunt, cocking his head at the seemingly simple tool in Kowalski's hands.

"Oh! I suppose I should explain what this is," He said with a chuckle.

"This is a little thing I like to call the Emotion-Master 3000. It can control any living being's emotions, whether it be a slight adjustment of happiness, or a massive tuning of insanity!" The strategist marveled his once prized invention, cradling it in his arms like a newborn child, which made Rico laugh as he waddled closer to him and the remote. Kowalski handed it to him, and he inspected it, now noticing the many buttons were labeled with nearly every conceivable feeling known to them.

"Yes, it's quite impressive. Shame that the internal circuits are fried, though.." He said in a mourning voice, making Rico feel bad, slouching on the desk, the noticeable scar curved down in sync with his beak.

Kowalski noticed and put his flipper on the sad penguin, trying to cheer him up.

"Don't worry, Rico, You and me will get it fixed in no time." He said, a smile approaching Rico's face. Seeing it made Kowalski himself smile, and even blush a little as he gazed into Rico's eyes. He didn't know what it was, but every time he looked at those eyes, he felt an overwhelming passion to just hug him, much like they had done that one night. The truth was, Kowalski just wasn't sleeping because of his hard work, he had been obsessing over those eyes ever since the night they shared that moment. He didn't think of it as a romantic thing, even though when he thought about the night, he couldn't help but turn a bit red and wish It could happen all over again.

He slowly fiddled with the insides of the machine, making sure not to rip and cords or mess up anything that didn't need to be fixed. Luckily, he already analyzed the damage on the machine, and was pleased to find that the tiny circuit board inside was the only problem.

"Rico, could you go get me a circuit board that looks like this?" He said as he handed Rico the medium sized chip. Rico waddled over to Kowalski's spare parts box, happy to be able to help. He grabbed a seemingly identical board, the broken one still in his hand, and waddled back over to Kowalski, nearly making it all the way before tripping on some junk left over from their last experiment.

He stumbled over, just barely avoiding the corner of the desk, but instead, landing on Kowalski. His beak hit the strategist's neck, slowly gliding up the side as Rico fell more into Kowalski. Their bodies were now touching, each feeling the warmth of the other, and the sudden quicken in pace to their heartbeats. They just stood there, feeling each others' heat, for what seemed like a lifetime, until Kowalski cleared his throat nervously and began,

"Well, um..thank you for the circuit board..Rico." He said, moving away slowly and holding his flipper out, his face blood-red as they pulled away. The intellectual was relieved, and a bit nervous, as he saw Rico blushing just as hard.

The manic penguin fumbled with the two boards nervously, trying to remember which one was the broken one and which one was the fixed.

"Um, Rico..?" The strategist asked, seeing the other staring down at the objects in his hand. Rico quickly looked up, handing him what he hoped was the fixed board. Kowalski took it and stuck it in the remote, turning it on right after. He turned to Rico, still looking down at the machine, as he began to speak.

"Alright, Rico. I'm going to need to test this on you, just a few minor emotion changes to see if this thing works, nothing much." Rico nodded and stood in front of him, ready to be tested on. Kowalski smiled to himself at knowing he had Rico to help him with a lot of things others wouldn't.

He turned the device on, and a small LED screen at the top lit up, indicating it turned on. The taller penguin aimed it towards Rico, pressing the button labeled with a smiley face, indicating happiness, and turned the dial labeled "Intensity" to 20%. The LED copied his actions and displayed them on the screen. He pressed a large button at the top, and then the machine stared to make a high pitched beeping. Rico cocked his head as the strategist nervously looked down to the device. The LED was flashing, on and off, with the word "Malfunction" on it.

"Um, It appears the device is sti-" Was what Kowalski could make out before a large spark emitted at the end of the remote. The LED switched back to the original display, but Kowalski noticed something different. Instead of "Happiness" the LED showed the word "Love". He started to push the cancel button, but then a beam of electricity shot out, hitting Rico in his forehead. He fell to the floor.

"Rico!" Kowalski yelled out, running to the fallen penguin. He looked up, smiling when he saw Kowalski at his side.

"Are you okay?" Kowalski muttered out, still worried. The manic penguin smiled more as he sat up, his face getting closer to Kowalski's.

"Never better." He squawked out. The intellectual couldn't help but blush at the comment as he stood up, laughing nervously.

"Do you feel any different?" He asked, disappointed when Rico shook his head no. He turned to the desk, putting the device on it and took off the back panel.

"It seems the device is still broken, I'm going to have to-" He stopped as he felt Rico's presence get closer, tensing up as he felt his flippers move to his neck.

"What are you..?" He muttered out, not moving and inch as his spot at the desk. He noticed Rico's touch felt amazing, letting out a small gasp as the flippers began massaging his shoulders.

"Shhh.. Tense. Need neck rub." Rico whispered as he moved his body closer, his flippers working their magic on Kowalski. The strategist arched lower, he hated to admit it, but the feeling was wonderful. He didn't know what had gotten into Rico, but he loved it right now and didn't want it to stop.

He turned around, shaking the new thoughts out as he turned to the other penguin.

"Rico, I think I'm tense because-" He said in a low voice, stopping again as he stared at Rico's eyes, mere centimeters away from his face. They had a look of lust, something Kowalski had never noticed before. He saw the eyes get closer as Rico approached, moving his face down. Kowalski shot up as the other moved his beak slowly over his neck, nipping at it gently.

"Rico..." He whispered out, saying nothing more. He closed his eyes slowly making the decision in his mind that he didn't want this to end. It felt so good, and oddly better to Kowalski knowing it was coming from Rico. _How could I feel this way?_ He thought to himself, still letting Rico nip at his neck. This was his best friend! He never took it to consideration, mainly out of fear for he had already noticed it, but everything Rico did, the sudden bursts of insanity, the different ways he smiled, depending on who he was with or what was happening, the way he'd help him out no matter what, and those eyes, he loved all of it. He loved Rico.

But then he stopped, nervousness and fear overcoming his face as a horrible thought entered his mind.

The device.

All of what Rico was doing, it could just be from the Emotion-Master malfunctioning. The whole thing could have gone to Hell, and instead of what Kowalski had entered in, the device could have been set to love. As much as he didn't want to, he pulled away from Rico, leaving him with a confused look.

"Uh..um, I'm sorry, Rico..." He said, distraught and sad that the new-found feeling was potentially fake.

"But, I think this is because of the device.." Rico looked down.

"Oh.." He muttered, but looked back up, a small smile on his face.

"So?" The word made Kowalski stop. He started to say something but familiar voices silenced him.

Skipper walked through the lab door and looked at Kowalski, who just had enough time to move away from Rico.

"There you are, men!" He said, a snow-cone in hand and a smirk on his face.

"C'mon, lets play some cards." He said, a somewhat commanding tone on his voice. Kowalski began to walk towards the living room, but stopped when he noticed Rico holding his flipper. It felt nice, but Skipper would definitely flip out if he saw.

"Rico, no.." He said, expecting to see a saddened face, but instead was replied with a quick nip on the neck and a determined look from Rico as he made his way to the table, eying him the entire way.

This was going to be a long night...


	3. Chapter 3: Fix It

A/N: Sorry if this one seems long, I just wanna get the story goin! Please review after reading, I'd like any kind of input for the story!:D

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><p>Kowalski shifted nervously in his chair, trying his best not to look at Rico, who had been staring at him the entire time. He tried to eat the fish on his plate, but he couldn't get the feeling of guilt out of him, and he knew why. In the lab, Kowalski felt so good when Rico holding him, nipping ar him, he almost suggested to himself that he not try to fix the device. But now, he felt horrible for even thinking such things. He would be practically controlling Rico, making him do as he pleased. The intellectual couldn't possibly do that to him. Could he?<p>

_No,_ He thought to himself, looking down at his untouched meal. _I think I love him, but I'm not going to keep him like this, no matter how much I like it._

"Something wrong, soldier?" He heard Skipper question. He looked up to notice the question was directed towards him. Everyone was staring at him, he noticed, especially Rico, who was giving him the most seductive look he's ever seen. _How did no one notice that?_

"Oh, uhm.. I'm fine, Skipper. I just..." He tried to think of an excuse worthy enough to trick Skipper, but came up short.

"You just...?" He heard Skipper's voice again. Trying not to show panic, the strategist quickly remembered the Emotion-Master.

"Oh, I need to work on an invention in my lab, I've been at it for a while and don't want to lose my train of thought. Could I be excused?" He held his breath as he looked at Skipper, who was giving him a suspicious look. He sighed in relief as Skipper finally said,

"Alright, Kowalski. You're excused. Just don't stay up all night in that lab, Man! You're gonna need your full energy tomorrow." Kowalski noticed Rico once more as he got up to leave. His face was the same, just eying him seductively as he made his way to the lab. All in all, Kowalski was a bit scared. What could possibly be wrong with the device? What would Rico try to do to him? He shuddered at the thought of being taken advantage of by Rico, but he felt his skin heat up the more he thought about it.

Once he made his way to the lab, he quickly began working, examining the entire device and running diagnostics and such. He really wasn't lying when he talked to Skipper. He wanted this fixed as soon as possible. Even if he decided not to, he knew something bad would happen. Like Skipper or Private finding out, or Rico becoming aggressive, or him finding someone else. He stopped at the last thought. It _was_ definitely weird Rico had only taken a liking to him. Kowalski had designed the emotions in the device to be put out towards everyone, not just one single person. He slowly frowned at the thought of Rico going to someone else.

"Well, none of that will happen," He mumbled to himself, "Right after I fix this. And fix Rico." He took off the back panel and inspected every part of the inside, not noticing anything wrong. Until he placed his eyes on the circuit board. He saw a small scorch mark on the panel. Kowalski took it out and examined the other side, all while picking up the identical board on the floor from earlier.

"Damn it, Rico" He said, comparing the two boards. The one in the device was burnt and fried, while the one on the floor was completely fine. They must've mixed up the two.

The intellectual cursed to himself for not noticing before, when he heard the lab door open quietly. He pushed the fixed circuit board into the device quickly before turning around, tensing up as he saw who it was. The one he hoped would be in his lab every single day was now the one he wished wouldn't show up as much, and he was standing at the door, staring Kowalski down with a grin on his face.

"Um, hi...Rico" He said, trying to turn away,back to the device. One shot and Rico would be back to normal. He heard the door shut and turned around, not knowing that it was a big mistake. Rico got somehow very close to him now, putting his flippers out and wrapping them around Kowalski. The feeling was nice for Kowalski, but not as nice knowing it wasn't Rico's real doing. The intellectual tried turning away again, but came to no avail as the shorter penguin pulled him in closer. The two were now as close as possible. Kowalski saw Rico lean in, the manic penguin intending for a kiss, but was met instead by a flipper on his shoulder. Rico gave out a wanting moan which made the strategist sort of wish he hadn't done that. But he finally choked out,

"Rico... this isn't you. You're being controlled, don't you see that?" He said, trying to convince Rico to stop. It obviously didn't work. Rico brought Kowalski to the ground, the device still in his hands, Rico holding him the entire way. The intellectual didn't know why, but he allowed it to happen. The larger penguin had Kowalski pinned down, but the strategist noticed that he was trying to be gentle with it. Rico leaned in again, but moved to Kowalski's ears instead of his beak.

"Me. Want. Be Controlled. By 'Walski." The words made Kowalski freeze. He noticed there was something different in his voice. The entire time he spoke in a seductive, sexy voice. This time, he could feel a hint of what seemed to be truth behind it.

He noticed Rico tightening his grip on him, and leaning closer again, but Kowalski now had the device aimed at the manic penguin.

"I'm sorry, but I.. I just, can't.." Kowalski said mournfully, wishing so much those were Rico's true words, as he pressed the large button on the top. A ray of electricity hit Rico again, making him jump off the intellectual, hitting the hard ground with another thud. Kowalski got up and waddled over to Rico, smiling as he saw him pick himself up with a confused grunt. He looked up at Kowalski, sadness and shame overpowering him as he began to sob.

Kowalski sat near Rico and put his flipper around him. It was torture seeing his best friend cry like that, and he wanted to try to help him.

"Could see. Everything. Couldn't do. Anything. So sorry.." He said between sobs, burying his face into Kowalski.

The strategist couldn't help but smile a he said,

"It's okay, Rico. It's not your fault." He looked at Rico, and it seemed he wanted to say something else, but he quickly got up as he squawked out,

"Thank you, 'Walski." Kowalski wanted to reply, but was cut off by the other wrapping his flippers around him.

The two stood there for five straight minutes, holding each other in the silence of the lab. They didn't say anything, they just let themselves go into the others' arms. Kowalski was saddened when the manic penguin pulled away, but his spirits lifted as Rico smiled and said with a nervous voice,

"Work?"

Kowalski couldn't help himself. Even after all they had been through in the past days, they had still managed to keep themselves together and work through it. He wanted to feel Rico's warmth on him, and did so as he waddled over and wrapped himself around him. I quiet shiver came from Kowalski as Rico moved his flippers to the strategist's back slowly rubbing them up and down.

"I'm getting pretty tired. Perhaps, tomorrow..though?" He whispered into Rico, and smiled as he saw his scar curl up with his beak in another smile. They pulled apart once more, and Rico started towards the door, stopping as he noticed Kowalski still at his desk. He waddled over and put his flipper on his shoulder.

"Oh, um.. sorry, Rico. Let's go." The intellectual said, somewhat startled, as he put the device down and went to the bunks with Rico.

But he had no intentions of sleeping that night. Especially not after what he had just found...


	4. Chapter 4: Happy

/N: I apologize for no writing for quite some time now, my hard drive crashed and the day I finally get it fixed,I get hit by a car and fracture my wrist. I think someone out there doesn't want me to write..O.o But anyhoo, is'll probably be the last chapter in a little bit, I kinda lost my train of thought and already have a bunch of ideas for another story that I'll probably end up writing the first chapter for today, sooo yeah enjoy :D

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><p>Kowalski fidgeted under his sheets, clearly unable to sleep. He had too much on his mind right now to sleep. He was waiting for the right time so he could go back to his lab, where he could think. He always liked going to his lab when he needed to think. He just had to wait for the right time, and it came when the heavy sound of Rico snoring into the night had started.<p>

Kowalski smirked to himself as he climbed down the ladder silently and crept into his lab. He walked to the desk, where he sat down and turned on the lamp beside him. The Emotion-Master was still sitting there, the screen brightly showing the strategist's discovery. The Emotion-Master's intensity level was still set to 20%, not nearly enough for Rico to act that way towards him. But why? Where was all the extra love coming from? Could it be from the malfunction? Kowalski looked at the light in the lamp. No, something told him that the malfunction had nothing to do with it.

Kowalski Was just about to get up, when he heard the lab door open. He shifted over to the side to see who it was. It was none other than Rico, as if Kowalski couldn't have guessed.

"Hello, Rico. Up so soon?" Kowalski asked in a joking tone, which put a smile on Rico's face as the larger penguin walked over to the desk. Kowalski loved the way he could converse with Rico and wished he could do more at a time like this, but he knew he had to bring up the subject of what happened, he knew neither of them would sleep tonight if they didn't.

He cleared his throat as he watched Rico lean on the front of the desk.

"Rico, I'm glad that you're here..." The first few words brought another smile to Rico's face, but the rest took it off.

"..But we need to talk...about what happened." Rico still felt terrible about what happened and didn't want to talk about anything of what happened this night, but he slowly nodded in agreement.

"Okay, well, I just need you to answer one question for me. Can you do that Rico?" Kowalski asked quietly as he got up and gently grabbed Rico's flippers. Rico instantly turned red, but continued to stare into the scientist's eyes as he nodded once more.

"What happened tonight...was there a part of you that actually..wanted it to happen?" Rico froze. He didn't know what to say. He knew he wanted that more than anything in the world, but what would happen If he told Kowalski? He wished he didn't have to answer the question, but he eventually lowered his head and whispered, "Yes.."

Kowalski inched himself closer, wrapping one flipper around Rico's neck.  
>"I... I wanted it to happen, too." They both looked at each other, slowly moving closer and closer. And right before their beaks met, Kowalski whispered,<p>

"I love you, Rico."

The two held the kiss for as long as they could, and when it ended, Rico wrapped himself around Kowalski and said with the happiest face Kowalski had ever seen, "Love you too, 'Walski." before quickly leaving the room.

Kowalski stood there, wondering if he would come back, and smiled when he saw the figure of him walking back to the door, but his flippers were filled with their blankets and pillows. He slowly set them down and began building a makeshift bed on the floor.

"Rico, what are you doing?" Kowalski asked, unable to stop himself from breaking a smile at the others sweetness. Rico finished and slowly waddled over to Kowalski, holding his flipper and bringing him back to the makeshift bed.

"Sleep here...tonight?" Rico squawked as he stared into the strategist's eyes, not letting go of the flipper in his own. Kowalski wanted nothing more than to sleep there tonight with Rico, but soon the worries overcame his mind.

"I'd love to, Rico, but what would we tell Skipper?" He said, frowning when he saw Rico's smile fade. Rico scratched his head, trying to think of an excuse.

"Work?" He asked, smiling as he knew the answer Kowalski had for the question. Kowalski smiled and kissed Rico again, giving in to his pleas as he went to the lab door and locked it. Rico turned the lamp off and went over to Kowalski, where he picked him up and lay him down on the covers. He soon followed, curling up as close to Kowalski as he could and kissing him again and again.

After what seemed like the longest but happiest time of Kowalski's life, they had stopped kissing, and Rico was now yawning as he wrapped his flipper around him. The larger penguin whispered,

"Sleep?" to Kowalski and he nodded, pulling the covers up to the two. After he was buried beneath the blankets, Kowalski put his head on Rico's chest, slowly nuzzling it.

"Good night, 'Walski.." Rico whispered as he lightly pressed his beak against the scientist's head, bringing a soft smile from him.

"Good night, Rico.." He replied, nuzzling deeper into the others feathers.

Kowalski slept the best he ever had in the longest time, and he knew exactly why. He had become more with Rico. More than just teammates. More than friends. He was with Rico now. the one he loved more than anything in the world. And he knew Rico felt the exact same way, and he knew nothing would tear them apart, ever...

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><p>Hope you liked it! And I hope you read my next stories :D<p> 


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